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The Drosophila melanogaster Rab GAP RN-tre crosstalks with the Rho1 signaling pathway to regulate non-muscle myosin II localization and function
Abstract
To identify novel regulators of non-muscle myosin II (NMII) we performed an image-based RNAi screen using stable Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells expressing EGFP-tagged regulatory light chain (RLC) of NMII and mCherry-Actin. We identified the Rab-specific GTPase-activating protein (GAP) RN-tre as necessary for the assembly of NMII RLC into contractile actin networks. Depletion of RN-tre led to a punctate NMII phenotype, similar to what is observed following depletion of proteins in the Rho1 pathway. Depletion of RN-tre also led to a decrease in active Rho1, and a decrease in phosphomyosin-positive cells by immunostaining while expression of constitutively active Rho or Rho-kinase (Rok) rescues the puncate phenotype. Functionally, RN-tre depletion led to an increase in actin retrograde flow rate and cellular contractility in S2 and S2R+ cells, respectively. Regulation of NMII by RN-tre is only partially dependent on its GAP activity as over-expression of constitutively active Rabs inactivated by RN-tre failed to alter NMII RLC localization, while a GAP-dead version of RN-tre partially restored phosphomyosin staining. Collectively, our results suggest that RN-tre plays an important regulatory role in NMII RLC distribution, phosphorylation, and function, likely through Rho1 signaling and putatively serving as a link between the secretion machinery and actomyosin contractility. [Media: see text] [Media: see text].
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